Frederick Robie (courtesy Maine State Museum)
(1822-1912 ) born in Gorham on August 12, 1822, was descended from early immigrants. Both his paternal and maternal ancestors had emigrated from England to America in the 1600’s.
He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1841 after attending Gorham Academy and receiving the benefit of private tutors. Initially teaching at academies in the South, he decided his career was to be in medicine. Dr. Robie received his diploma from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1844 and returned to Maine, practicing in Biddeford for eleven years and Waldoboro for three years.
During the Civil War he served as Paymaster in several posts, earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His political career began with a term in the State Senate beginning in 1866. A Republican, he attended the party’s National Convention in 1872. After serving as Speaker of the House in 1872 and 1876, he was elected governor in 1883 and again in 1885.
Robie was Grand Master of the Maine State Grange from 1881 through 1889. He served on the boards of directors of the Portland and Rochester Railroad Company, the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, and the First National Bank of Portland, of which he was President.
He died on February 3, 1912.
Additional resources
*Biographical Encyclopedia of Maine of the 19th Century. Boston: Metropolitan Publishing and Engraving Company, 1885, pp. 148-152.
Chase, Henry, ed. Representative Men of Maine.
Conwell, Russell Herman. The life and public services of James G. Blaine : with incidents, anecdotes, and romantic events connected with his early life : containg also his speeches and important historical documents relating to his later years / by Russell H. Conwell ; with an introduction by His Excellency, Frederick Robie, governor of Maine. Augusta, Me. E. C. Allen & Co. c 1884.
*Kennebec Journal, Augusta, February 5, 1912.
*McIntyre, Philip W. and Blanding, William F. Men of Progress. Boston: New England Magazine, 1897, pp. 71-75.
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*Cited in Friends of the Blaine House at http://blainehouse.org/governors(accessed April 25, 2011) (accessed April 25, 2011)